Graveyards- St Aiden’s Church-Billinge.

In search of a ‘Goth Grave’, on a very hot July afternoon. I can see Billinge Hill from my childhood bedroom window. I have been up there once, years ago looking for an ROC Post.

Anyway, parking up and running across the road, a soft but very warm calm appeared in the graveyard of St Aiden’s.

Lots of Goldfinches, Grasshoppers and Speckled wood butterflies led me around the graves and then abruptly stopped once I got to the main event.

The coffin shaped tomb of George and Kitty Smith dates back to 1720 and the grave shows a skull with a winged serpent. The story goes that George died having been bitten by a snake on Billinge Hill. The skull represents death that comes to us all and the wings represent the ascent to the afterlife. A snake eating its own tail is called an Ouroboros and is an ancient symbol for eternity and the cycle of life and death.

(adapted from Wigan Buildings- July 2024.)

Kitty Smith died of a broken heart and the grave of George was reopened for them to be reunited in death. Hardcore gegger grave!. It was Grade II listed in 1985.